Sustainable Transport In Barking
And Surrounding Areas
· Introduction
This web site is mainly about "Sustainable Transport" (ie basically using a car as little as possible, if at all) in Barking and surrounding areas. It gives information about cycling, public transport, the disadvantages of car use and ways to avoid travelling altogether. It also has links to other related web sites.
Sustainable transport
is part of sustainable living, so inevitably you will find this subject touched
upon. The assumption that to live locally is more sustainable is prevalent.
"Surrounding areas" means geographical areas, yes, but also subject areas.
The main emphasis, however, tends to be on cycling: The pages also serve as the
London Cycling
Campaign local
branch's web site.
Like many web-sites this one is something of a "working document". Information and links will be added or updated over time and the site will develop while it is in use.
You can have input too.
If you have constructive comments or relevant information/links please email
me, colinnewman@ntlworld.com.
Follow this link for events and activities
Barking Railway Station site
(independent), with information on trains, buses, taxis and other amenities,
plus links to rail related sites)
Follow this link for Links to other relevant sites
· NEWS --- VIEWS --- NEWS --- VIEWS
The Association of
Train Operating Companies and Brompton Bicycle Ltd have published
the National Rail Guide called "Cycling by train". The aim of the
guide is to provide cyclists with clear guidelines to each train company's
policy for taking bicycles onto their trains.
The
guide sets out such details as:
·
a
summary of the regions each company covers
·
contact
details and web addresses of train companies and cycling groups
·
the
times of day cycles can and cannot be carried on trains
·
reservation
phone numbers for passengers wishing to reserve space for their bicycle
·
the charges for taking cycles on trains where
this applies.
David Mapp, ATOC Commercial Director said: "Our guide aims
to make journey planning easier for all cyclists. Recent figures suggest that approximately
40,000 people a day use bikes to access railway stations in
Emerson Roberts of Brompton Bicycle Ltd, commented:
"We are very pleased to be associated with the "Cycling by
train" guide. Bromptons are designed with freedom and independence in
mind, and this guide provides all cyclists with the information they need to
integrate trains into their daily commute and their recreational riding."
The guide is available
at railway stations across the
The "Cycling by train" leaflet is available at all National Rail stations
and can be found on the national rail website at www.nationalrail.co.uk/passenger_services/cyclists.htm
http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=4092
“Following the formal
demise (December 2005) of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA), Transport
Minister Derek Twigg MP now has full responsibility
for rail policy issues in England and
Wales. It just so happens that he is also
the Minister responsible for cycling! CTC is therefore calling on members
and supporters to contact their MPs, urging them to press Derek Twigg MP for action to maximise the benefits of integrating
cycle and rail travel.”
Follow the link above
to read more and to lobby your MP on line. If your MP is (like Barking’s Margaret
Hodge) a minister, s/he will not be able to sign the Early Day Motion, Ms Hodge
did, however, write Derek Twigg after I contacted her
office.
A chance to respond to
TfL’s LEZ consultation here: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/low-emission-zone/
The consultation document
'Transport and Air Quality Strategy Revisions: London Low Emission Zone - Draft
for Public and Stakeholder onsultation', which
explains the background to the proposals, is downloadable from here:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/low-emission-zone/pdfdocs/draft-for-public-and-stakeholder-consultation.pdf
On page 16, figure 2, 'Forecast emissions from
Information from the Green Party:
This campaign starts this month.
Nationally, the Green Party will be staging events to help promote the campaign
in the press and raise awareness of the website and survey through other
organisations’ newsletters & websites. The SURVEY is the most crucial part
of this. Remember we won’t get press just for what we say (even if we say all
the right things), but for what we DO. By going out, engaging the public and
producing national and local survey results that show we are in touch with what
people want done, we will get noticed.
Please let us know if you have
any questions or suggestions about how we can take the campaign forward
locally.
With best
wishes, Melanie Collins, Co-ordinator, Barking, Dagenham & Havering Green
Party. mel@crotchet.demon.co.uk Tel. 01708 220160.
Ken Livingstone has designated 5
Energy Action Areas in
Two websites I noted some time
ago: http://www.sustel.org/ and http://www.sustainit.org/
http://www.tourdefrancelondon.com/
Simon Brammer of
LCC writes: “
If you have any further
questions, please don’t hesitate to give me a call.” Simon’s phone number is
If you are interested in such a
ride, please contact your local LCC representative. If you don’t know who that
is, or you live in Barking & Dagenham, contact Colin.
As usual, I was on the
(crowded) 1750 from Gospel Oak to Barking last Thursday evening. There was a
delay at
policy about bike carriage. At the very least people need notice of the change.
The advice to avoid peak hour trains is good advice for everybody - not just those
with bikes!
For those who don't know: This line has two-coach trains that run half-hourly
(though there's one or two extra trains each way in the peak, provide by TfL £)
http://www.c2c-online.co.uk/discount.htm.
c2c say “We’ve reduced the cost of Weekend Travelcards
from all c2c stations into
www.vitalise.org.uk. “Vitalise (formerly
Winged Fellowship Trust) is a national charity providing holidays for disabled
and visually impaired people. We aim to offer choice through our enabling
environment whilst providing essential breaks for carers and inspirational
opportunities for volunteers.” One possibility is offering to be a tandem pilot
so that a visually impaired person can be the stoker. Volunteers get the
holidays at favourable rates.
One
of the London Cycling award winners for 2005 (from www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=978 ). “Best Cycling Media Initiative: Jack
Thurston and The Bike Show on Resonance 104.4 FM. ‘The UK’s only radio show
devoted to the miracle of the bicycle and the transcendental pleasures of
cycling’. One devoted listener writes: ‘The Bike show is a very welcome
addition to London
The
website FAQs page says: “We
broadcast in central
www.resonancefm.com for more information and to listen online / hear MP3s of past
programmes.
TfL writes: “The train/tube
fares listed in our fares leaflet [pp 20-21, or 12 depending on the version]
apply to journeys made if you go via the tube - 'through' journeys. The example
you mention [Barking & Gospel Oak line] is a wholly National Rail route and
TfL does not set these fares.
As a general principle,
the various Train Operating Companies set the fares charged on their own
services. In this case, their off-peak pricing may be viewed as uncompetitive,
simply as the Day Travelcard is actually cheaper. The cheap day return between
Barking and Gospel Oak is £4.40 against the zones 2-6 Day Travelcard (off-peak)
at £4.30. The peak single is £4.60 with the return at £4.70. Of course, it
seems sensible to choose the unlimited use Day Travelcard in this case.”
Not only that, the maximum
‘through’ fare for 3 zones excluding zone 1 (which zones cover the whole
B&GO) is £3. Making
it apparently cheaper to go from Upney-Gospel Oak than Barking – Gospel Oak by
single fares.
What I don’t understand is if you’re
buying your ticket at a National Rail station (especially one not served by the
Underground) how do you get such a ticket –and how do they know you are going
to go on the tube?
The Transport Committee of the London
Assembly has published a report called Crime
& Safety at London’s Suburban Railway Stations. In reporting on it, the
Barking & Dagenham Post picks up
that “the number of crimes per station is considerably higher at stations with
an interchange between overground [sic] and
underground [sic] lines”. I don’t like
this sloppy usage – Underground refers to a company, not a description of where
tracks are and “over ground” could refer to Underground lines on the surface as
well as National Rail lines. And of course a small amount of National Rail
lines are under ground. The terms should be Underground
and National Rail – and it might be better to include DLR separately.
The sloppiness in the report is
shown by the top 20 table of “Overground” stations
and the number of reported crimes. Some station names are starred for being
“interchange stations” whereas in fact they are stations served both by
National Rail and Underground. Top of the list come
Most stations served by National Rail are also run by National Rail – Barking being an
obvious example. West Ham is an exception but I don’t know if there are others.
In stations run by a National Rail company, it seems to dominate. The point
must be that the rather higher standard of accommodation and security at LU run
stations is noticeable - I know that LU has problems getting cooperation from
c2c at Barking – so there’s the combination of high passenger throughput
because of the Underground and a less secure station environment because of the
National Rail station ownership.
www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/transport.jsp
Try this tube map for some light
relief http://www.unfortu.net/anagrammap/
Sustrans is proposing a network of cycle and walking routes
to the Olympic site called Greenways for the Olympics and London (GOAL). At the
moment only 0.03% of Olympic transport money is to be spent on cycling
infrastructure. If you want to register support for GOAL, go to http://www.sustrans.org.uk/default.asp?sID=1137081747812
and vote!
B&D has launched a
campaign to encourage sustainable travel to school under the tag The Children Strike Back and picking up Star Wars iconography – particularly a
Darth Vader character, pictured in January’s Citizen heading a group of children walking to school. Another picture features some cyborgs (I don’t know what they’re called) one of whom has
a bike. I couldn’t find this material on B&D’s website, but there is
ordinary STP information at http://www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk/8-leisure-envir/roads/safety/school-travel-what.html
17 January 2006 –
Penalty fares on B&GO
Silverlink has been
inept about this with confusing tannoy announcements and posters. Penalty fares
will not be imposed on the B&GO because of the 9 stations that have no
ticket selling facilities. If you start your journey at Barking,
http://www.livingstreets.org.uk/page.php?pageid=432¤tPage=1.
Living streets have produced a brilliant report about what they think we should
be done to improve the Heathway and the streets in walking distance of it. It
contains dozens of recommendations – some blindingly obvious that shouldn’t
need saying, but do, and some more imaginative ones reinforced by research
locally and from elsewhere and by calls upon best practice not only from
manuals but from real life.
What is particularly
encouraging is the cogent input from local people who were ‘Community Street
Auditors’ for the report. Just because the area is run down and neglected one
shouldn’t assume that local people do not care or have given up.
One small quibble is
that there is no mention of the 2003 audit done by TfL and local cyclists (called
CRISP). This covered more than just this area and so is far less extensive in
its recommendations for this area. Nevertheless it chimes in well and I don’t
think people who cycle will find much to disagree with. The lack of mention of
the CRISP report is more indicative of the status of these reports in the
public sector than it is of Living Streets’ view of cycling and cyclists.
Whilst I applaud the
view that special facilities should be provided for cyclists to keep them off
the footway, the recommendation that footway cycling should be stopped by using
fixed penalty notices (an option already available) should I think be tempered
with some use of discretion for those cycling on the footway with due care and
attention: The report recognises that some people who cycle find the
carriageway too hazardous and also that the crash railings hinder movement. The
problems caused by the railings to pedestrians crossing the road are similar to
those for people cycling who want to leave the road and use the shops and
amenities. It would be wrong to alienate them by using the stick before the
carrot is available.
If your heating and hot water system does not have a tank, it
is going to be difficult – but maybe not impossible - for you to use solar
heated water. The websites say that some combination boilers (combis) can accept pre-heated water. I haven’t found one
that lists them, but www.devonsolar.co.uk
offers to find out for you. Others say that if there’s space for a tank one can
be fitted and in some cases the boiler may be adaptable to work with a tank.
The heat losses from a tank must then be balanced with the heat gains from
solar energy to see what energy savings can be realised.
The Slower Speeds Intiative’s End the Body Count campaign
(www.slower-speeds.org.uk/endthebodycounts/) has been successful in as much
that “The Government has announced that for 2006/07 the criteria for safety
cameras will change ‘to ensure that cameras can be used where there is a strong
safety need.’
Rather old news I’ve found buried in my records. http://www.car-recycling.co.uk/ needs some work to update it (latest news dated in 2002!), fix
broken links etc, but still contains some interesting information and a search
facility (with a broken link to multimap) for local recyclers. The site links
to http://www.elv-is.net/
(End of life
vehicle information systems), but that site has been taken down bar a holding
page telling you this.
If cars are to have any serious claim to be sustainable, the
industry really has to do better than this at presenting the issue.
People who want to live sustainably still want value for
money, even if they don’t place such importance on least first cost as others. In theory, resource efficient goods and services are genuinely cheaper as they
use fewer resources per unit of service delivered. The price though, doesn’t always reflect the
true cost.
But all this is clouded by the sometimes misleading price
information given with a product. Take toilet rolls – a very day-to-day
product. One of my local shops used to sell the same make in 4 roll and 6 roll
packs. But the 4 roll packs had 240 sheets per roll whereas the 6 roll packs
were 200 sheets per roll - equivalent to five 240 sheet rolls. Another “value”
pack has 9 rolls – but at only 150 sheets per roll - equivalent to much less than six 240 sheet rolls. The
per roll price on the packaging is misleading as a roll is not standard.
Last week’s Barking
& Dagenham Post carried an article explaining how what Barking town
centre needs (apparently, according to the council) is another multi-storey car
park. Even though Barking has been derided for its
amount of car parks (which are of course empty most of the time), the fact that
some will be given over to housing leads people to conclude that the lost
capacity must be replaced. I don’t want the retail
vitality of Barking to suffer, but I really think
the emphasis needs to be on sustainable
retail vitality.
It looks like there will be one starting on Sunday evening (8th)
at 1830 and lasting the whole of Monday (9th). It would seem
sensible to avoid travelling, especially in the peaks if at all possible. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/press-centre/press-releases/press-releases-content.asp?prID=642
gives TfL’s point of view and http://www.rmt.org.uk/C2B/PressOffice/display.asp?ID=1823&Type=1 gives the union’s.
I have
been doing some research on these devices, because my central heating control
is so basic. I wanted something which would know the difference between
weekdays and weekends and would combine the function of the room thermostat and
timer. Two came to my attention – one at www.warmworld.co.uk,
but the one from http://www.seitron.it/eng/prodotti/scheda.php?sectionid=32&itemid=206&begincount=0&pathtype=sectiontree&SID
(which I
bought from http://www.syxthsense.com/ecommerce2/cart1.php was rather cheaper whilst providing most of the functionality
I need. Both the models referred to have the ability to guess when to turn on
the heating to reach the required warmth at the required time.
If
you’re searching, apart from “Chronostat”, try
“Intelligent Heating Controller” (the term Warmworld
uses).
There
are some very advanced, networkable control devices
around, but the prices get a little steep. If you are a home automation
aficionado you might invest, but I would think for most people a reasonable
payback time is the key: The Seitron is around £60.
Not cheap compared to a basic thermostat, or even a basic thermostat and timer,
but it will cut down on the need to interact with the controls – which is
susceptible to human error.
I have
warned elsewhere that if you swipe your Oyster card at Barking and then use the
B&GO to go to Blackhorse Road where you swipe again, the system will assume
you have come on the Underground through zone 1, meaning pre-pay would be taken
off your Oyster if you haven’t got at least a zone 1-4 travelcard season loaded. Vice versa too. The TfL fares leaflet warns that some
journeys are deemed by the Oyster system to be through zone 1 when they’re not
actually.
The
Oyster system ought to be able to work out that if you swiped at BHR about 20
minutes after you swiped at Barking, you can’t possibly have come by
Underground – TfL’s journey pl
The tube map showing where bikes are allowed is now on line,
at www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/tube-map-bicycles1b.pdf, though the Jubilee section
between
“For the fifth consecutive year, the Woodland Trust has teamed
up with retailers WHSmith and Tesco to deliver its
annual Christmas Card Recycling Scheme. Recycling bins will be in all WH Smith
high street stores and all Tesco Extra and Superstores [until] Tuesday 31
January 2006.” http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/news/index.htm.
Watch this space for confirmed sightings of recycling bins locally.
31 December - Mayor is quizzed over
commuters – Apology/Correction
On 23 November I wrote:
“In an article thus headed, the Post
gets itself a bit confused – or possibly London Assembly Member Jenette (not Jeanette)
Incidentally, a zone 3
Travelcard will get you all the way from Woodgrange Park to Crouch Hill (and
back) on the B&GO.”
Sorry. Jenette Arnold is correct to say that single zone
travelcards (ie weekly and longer duration ones – there haven’t ever been day
travelcards for one zone to my knowledge) are to be discontinued. A weekly 1
zone travelcard (excluding Zone 1) was £11.20 in 2005 (a two zone being £13).
In 2006 a two zone (excluding zone 1) will be £14.
Prepay, for comparison,
costs £1 single for up to 2 zones (excluding zone 1), so if B&GO were to charge prepay at the same rate a 1 or 2 zone
journey would work out quite a bit cheaper on prepay than a weekly. The zonal system works on the basis that most
Apart from its sheer convenience, an Oyster card accesses much cheaper single, return and one day
tickets than “traditional” methods. For example, some single fares are 2 or 3
times the cost when paid cash compared to by Oyster pre-pay.
For optimum convenience, get auto
top up on your card – every time your prepay reserve falls below £5, the
system will top it up with £20 from your linked debit or credit card.
Silverlink is introducing penalty fares from 4 January. The
fine is up to £20 if you don’t by a ticket before travelling. On the B&GO
there are still several stations without ticket machines, so anyone who is not
a regular traveller (ie hasn’t got at least a weekly season ticket, or it’s
expired) and uses one of those stations is unable to comply, as far as I can
tell. The ticket sellers are allowed to use their discretion where ticket
offices are closed and/or machines are out of order (Silverlink’s website says)
but I don’t think it mentions stations with no ticket selling capability.
The sooner Silverlink gets Oyster card readers/writers the
better. Then people will be able to download weekly and longer period tickets
onto their Oyster card instead if buying them from the conductor. But better
still, let’s see prepay made valid.
A lot of on line information is of variable quality – and that
about Barking Station is no exception. And because Barking
station is a National Rail station served by the Underground, information is
provided by both organisations – even though it’s the self-same station.
In no particular order, we have Tube Guru http://www.visitlondon.com/tubeguru/station?station=BARKING.
This has inaccurate information about the station (Gates – no - ??, phones – no!!) and clicking on pubs and bars leads to
even more: apparently the Spotted Dog is 220m (c 240 yds)
from the station. No mention is made that the station is served by c2c and
Silverlink.
Next up is information accessed via the Journey Pl
Then there’s National Rail’s more extensive (but doubtfully
useful) information at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/station/BKG.html.
I have personally told them 3 times that there are now toilets at Barking
station – but this still says there aren’t.
Finally there’s c2c’s information at http://www.c2c-online.co.uk/route/barking.htm.
This is so lacking in detail as to be fairly useless – but it is accurate if
not precise.
The “game” played by National Rail and the Underground of
playing down each other’s existence is in evidence here. This is one of the
reasons why I provide my own station site.
www.capitalwastefacts.com/boroughs/factfile.php4?id=228
says that
Bicycles can be recycled at B&D’s
The Diesel engine wasn’t especially intended to run on what’s
called Diesel fuel and Diesel vehicles can be modified to run entirely by, or
mainly by biofuel, such as vegetable oil. There’s
plenty of information on the web, including sites for sellers of conversion kits
or firms that will do the conversions. From memory one route is to change the
oil (transesterification) to make it suitable for running in an unmodified
engine and the other is to modify the vehicle so that it can run on both
petroleum diesel and vegetable oil – the engine has to warm up before it can
use untreated vegetable oil –thus the need to continue to use petroleum diesel
when the engine is cold.
There is a big “but” though. Georges Monbiot
says (http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/12/06/worse-than-fossil-fuel/)
that reusing cooking oil is good, but there’s not nearly enough of it to meet
fuel ‘needs’ at current levels. Increased demand for biofuel
will inevitably mean more palm oil plantations (palm oil is the cheapest)
leading to deforestation and thus more carbon being released into the
atmosphere (from burning the old trees) alongside the destruction of habitats.
So even with biofuel we have to keep
in mind the so-called “well to wheel” sustainability of motor vehicles: It’s a
fat lot of good (ha ha) cutting pollution at the
tailpipe if that pollution is simply displaced upstream nearer to where the
fuel is produced.
The Corporation (which I saw on More4 recently
– and it may be repeated soon - is an excellent if galling film about
the excesses of multinational corporations in their pursuit of profits. Left
wing commentators such as academic Noam Chomsky and
film-maker Michael Moore appeared to illuminate exactly what they thought is
wrong. However, the tenor of the film was that when you hear the word
“capitalism” you should think “evil”. In the book Natural Capitalism (Paul Hawken,
Amory B Lovins and L Hunter Lovins)
the writers defend capitalism by trying to use its own principles to correct
it. In The Corporation the fact of
“externalities” was pointed out – these are consequences of commerce or
industry whose costs are not borne directly by them – a classic case is
pollution. Natural Capitalism argues
that these externalities should be accounted for.
Apologists for communism point out that it can’t be judged by
the attempt (if it was genuinely an attempt) to apply it in the
The Greener, Cleaner, Safer subgroup had an outing to the
Millennium Village at North Greenwich today, followed by a discussion about
B&D’s Local Development Framework – the successor to the Unitary
Development Plan.
I found it surprising that despite the group’s sustainability
agenda car parking was mentioned several times as a particular problem to be
solved. I’m not saying if you ignore it it will go
away, but I made the point in discussion that reduction in car use has to
remain a top priority in environmental sustainability.
Consultation has many problems – one of which, in this subject
area, is that the problem of environmental sustainability remains a problem
whether or not people say it is or vote for it. Councils or any organisation
must align their priorities with those of nature / the biosphere before
considering the priorities of their residents/clients/customers that so clearly
are dependent on their being a biosphere suitable for us to live in.
The Barking &
Dagenham Post reports that the inquiry will now happen in the New
Year. Opponents of the bridge argue that
it is really part of the trunk road network and the bus and cycle lanes are
something of a sop. The Post reporting
in the Post reflects this mentality:
“it will greatly reduce journey times for … motorists wanting to travel south
of the river.” No mention of public
transport or cycling.
Personally I have mixed feelings about the bridge – clearly it
will bring places south of the river much nearer – which will help those who
have to go there, but new road schemes that initially reduce journey times (ie
most) often finish up attracting more traffic.
The proposed site is Barking Working Men’s’ club – which is
apparently dwindling and unable to afford its overheads. In the same vein as
above, the Post says “homeowners will
have nowhere to leave their cars”. OK, they later explain that being 400m (1/4
mile) from the station it is in the zone where the council encourages car-free
developments, but the assumption still prevails that having a car is normal.
Darren Little writes:
“As
part of the Council’s approach to encouraging sustainable transport I would
like to re-ignite the old Bicycle Users Group (BUG) which has fallen in to
decay over the past couple of years.
I’m
sure there are a lot of cyclists working for the Council at the moment who often
bring their bikes to work. Cycle parking varies throughout the Council
buildings, and this is currently being looked at in terms of improving what is
available to staff at the moment. If you are a cyclist and would like to be
part of a BUG please get in touch with me - contact details below. We can then
work together in conjunction with the Council to improve what facilities
already exist and to look at providing new facilities where they are lacking.
We can also help you to get more out of your cycling with free cycling maps and
‘Bike MOT’s’ and events. But to do this we need some ‘Cycling Champions’ to
come forward.
The
Planning and Transportation Division has just recently moved over to the Town
Hall and in conjunction with Assets Management we have arranged for a secure
cycle parking facility for Town Hall users. This is a lockable room to the side
of the Town Hall which is available for use at present. A key can be provided
to you as a regular user if you contact us to let us know. This new cycle store
is the first phase in improving facilities at the Council’s main office
buildings and Asset Management will soon be providing a cycle store at Roycraft House and Ripple Road Offices.
If you
have any questions then please get in touch.
Kind
Regards, Darren Little, Travel Demand Management Advisor. Darren.little@lbbd.gov.uk. (020) 8227
3943.”
Intensive campaigning
by the Barking – Gospel Oak User
Group working with National Rail, Tfl and Silverlink have successfully bid
to fund an extra train service to alleviate rush-hour overcrowding – it will
start on Monday 12 December. An additional service will leave Upper Holloway at
0742 and then form a Barking 0823 departure; then in the evening there’ll be a
Gospel Oak departure at 1710. This is excellent work by the user group, which I
do urge you to join. It’s just £3 a year.
Congratulations!
At last an update – and a new scheme (well new to me anyway).
(a)
Access Road, Leyton, E10 (Multimap
references it in E17 – it crosses the border). recycles 20-30 bikes a month and
sells them on to residents. Bike prices start from £40 for adults’, £20 for
children’s’. Sales: 1st Saturday of the month, 1-3pm. Public Drop-In Sessions:
Saturdays (except 1st in month) 1-3 pm. Tool Use £1 and help from
professional bike mechanic. Details: gina.harkell@walthamforest.gov.uk
or linda.webb@walthamforest.gov.uk
(b) Mike Walton Recycled Bikes,
Volunteers’ day at
Reporting via the online web form seems to be a waste of time.
One time, frustrated by the total lack of response, I specifically asked for
acknowledgement and received a reply saying that the officer couldn’t make
sense of my e-mail (system generated with the contents of the form, not written
by me) and that I should phone up! The number to ring is (020) 8215 3000.
26 November 2005: Journey Planning and
information
Best advice is to plan your journey before travelling, but in
the real world this doesn’t always happen. Either way you are at the mercy of
the quality and quantity of information available to you and – particularly if
you are planning on the move – the amount of time you have to take it in.
Earlier this week I saw a young woman trying to get to somewhere in
I later found out that the 97 bus stops at the junction of
I looked at TfL’s journey pl
www.immobilise.com
seems to be an upgrade of www.menduk.org that
I mentioned here back in April. It does get rather confusing having more than
one database * and more than one way into some if them: I registered my bike on
immobilise.com only to get confirmation from menduk,
where it was already registered. I don’t know if they’re going to do any
matching to remove duplicated information.
* www.Bikeregister.com, www.immobilise.com (www.menduk.org),
and www.thencr.co.uk (National Cycle
Register) are the ones I know of that are still working.
Newhams Row is shown in my
street atlases but not labelled: This is why I’ve added it to the address even
though Royal Mail doesn’t require it. It's off Bermondsey Street to the east,
just north of Long Lane. At the time of writing they can't get their emails -
so don't email anything urgent. If you can spend any time helping out at the
office, do ring first - then they can plan things for you to do. It may be that they need help with the
aftermath of the move.
A grant
of £950,000 has been awarded by Cycling England to the CTC Charitable Trust to
accelerate the take-up of new national standards for cycle training.
Having
developed the original Cycling Proficiency test in the 1930s, CTC has over the
last few years been instrumental in the development of a new up-to-date
national standard for cycle training, which reflects the needs of today’s
cyclist. The new training uses three levels of training to give cyclists the
practical skills and confidence to make more cycling trips, safely.
The
Charitable Trust will use the money to help create over 1,200 new CTC-approved
national standard cycling instructors and new cycling instructor centres. Help
will also be available for existing training centres. The work will be carried
out alongside the National
CTC
Director Kevin Mayne said: “This is an exciting start
for the new Charitable Trust, which has been founded to promote the benefits of
cycling to society as a whole. This grant from Cycling England is an
endorsement of the new training standards and the work CTC has done in this area
– it will go a long way towards achieving our shared goal of helping people
make cycling part of their lives.”
CTC’s bid for the grant from Cycling
England was supported by fourteen other organisations.
To find
out more call the national cycle training helpline on 0870 607 0415 or visit www.ctc.org.uk/cycletraining
23 November 2005 –
New BMX track in Dagenham
A BMX track and
ancillary facilities have opened in Old Dagenham Park. You reach it from Siviter
Way (Dagenham Village by pass). You may have trouble following the website’s
directions. www.badbmx.com
23 November 2005 –
In defence of cyclists
Although the letters
page in last weeks Barking & Dagenham
Post said I live in Church Road Dagenham (which does not exist), I am not
the “Dagenham man” who has criticised the council for putting in speed humps on
roads that need re-surfacing. No - that man is Barry Watson – presumably
he of Becontree Organic Growers. http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=becontree+organic+growers&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
The Post this week reported that he believes
cyclists could injure themselves. Thanks Barry – it is unusual to find people
sticking up for cyclists.
23 November 2005 –
recycling and pester power
The Post today has an article and a vox pop on pester power – children persuading their parents
– and recycling. It shows that Fathers recycle less than mothers. Come on dads!
It also mentions the B&D recycling helpline – 0845 331 3131 or text RECYCLE
and your postcode to 63131.
The Post reports briefly on the master plan
for the area south of Barking TH. A main part of this is building on the Axe St
Car Park, but the article mentions a “walkway” to Gascoigne Estate. I did have
input to this plan some months ago, but B&D’s record on opening up access
for cyclists is not good – so I hope this is not another example.
23 November 2005 –
Mayor is quizzed over commuters
See corrected version
dated 31 December
Apparently, Silverlink
introduced restrictions on cycle carriage on part of the North London and
B&GO and lines in their last customer charter. A few people noticed – but I
never came across it being imposed (even though I am a daily user – albeit with
a folding bike). I kept schtum, but Jenette Arnold (see above) has asked Ken to raise it with
Silverlink because cyclists weren’t consulted.
23 November 2005 –
Go to Dagenham to get warm?
Curious advice for
disabled people from DIAL (Disablement Information Advice Line) – to go to
their office in St George’s Rd Dagenham to get advice on how to keep warm! I’d
stay in the warm and phone them up, if I were you – (020) 8595 8181.
23 November 2005 –
Spruce up for Four Gates Sluice Frontage (Town Quay)
“The proposed
improvement[s] … involve the creation of a new planted terrace … A bench and
interpretation board, [a] lower terrace [which] will slope up from the ch
19 November 2005 –
The joy of plastic
The word “plastic” was
used derogatorily – but it is amazing stuff. Its cheapness has led to its
tendency to be thrown away – particularly through products that are specially
made for disposal, but its many advantages cannot be ignored. The flip side of
the throw away tendency is plastics’ actual potential to be re-used and/or
recycled. Waste minimisation here doesn’t seem to be as advanced as for other
materials.
The number codes on
plastic containers are explained here: http://www.envocare.co.uk/plastics.htm
and The British
Plastics Federation and The
Association of Plastics manufacturers in Europe both have interesting
things to say in defence of plastic and its impact on the environment.
19 November 2005 – Energy
equivalence
It is interesting to
note that when explaining how much energy can be saved by (say) recycling an
aluminium can – or by reducing use of certain materials, the energy is often
expressed as hours of burning a 60w or a 100w bulb – whilst anyone with an
ounce of environmental or economic nous will of course be using low energy
bulbs that don’t use anything like this amount of power. This is a missed
opportunity.
13 November 2005 – FastTicket machines at Barking not connected
One advantage of www.thetrainline.com (or qjump) is that tickets can be ordered for collection at FastTicket machines. The ones at Barking are not connected
to do this, though. I have asked thetrainline why,
but only got the blandest of answers as to when this would happen. They didn’t
exactly say never, but neither did they give any idea when it might happen:
“Train Companies are working together to increase the availability and new
stations will be added to this list.”
13 November 2005 –
On line interactive bike shop list
It is difficult to say
whether such a thing is necessary or not. In theory, something like www.yell.co.uk or the mighty Google stable of
internet utilities ought to be able to fulfil this task, but with cycling such
a Cinderella activity, they never do quite hack it. This is why it is so
disappointing that TfL’s effort is so weak, with bike shops assigned to
incorrect boroughs and no real attempt and being comprehensive. The research
hasn’t been done properly. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cycles/maintenance/cycle-shops.asp.
Irrepressible cycling
campaigner, raconteur, polymath and bon viveur Tony Fincham (of Leyton) has come up
with the idea of setting up such an organisation, provisionally tagged Red Forest. A CIC is – in essence - a
mixture of a commercial venture and a charity – and Tony would like to run RF
along co-operative lines. There’s also the opportunity to chip in with some of
your hard earned. Drop Tony a line or
phone him and he will send you his outline proposal.
12 November 2005 – Extra
Trains on Barking & Gospel Oak Line
See updated entry – 28
November.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/tube-map-bicycles1b.pdf.
The Jubilee line sections (Stratford / Canning Town and Finchley Rd / Stanmore)
have unfortunately been missed off, but otherwise a welcome step.
12 November 2005 –
Footbridge Improvements
Sustained local
campaigning has made some progress with the railway footbridges from Essex Road
to Salisbury Avenue and St Awdry’s Road in Barking. Network Rail has undertaken
to repaint them every two months and the council will install additional
lighting and (on a trial basis) CCTV.
This makes a real
change from the “not me guv” attitude of recent years. Once I tried to get the
bridges cleared of litter and the very helpful council officer who took up the
case looked into who owned the bridges – something you’d think the council
might know since the bridges have been there 100 years or so! And do they
really think that Network Rail is going to send a sweeper up there? It makes
much more sense for the council to do it. Incidentally, the bridges were
miraculously litter-free around the time of Margaret Hodge’s site visit. Well done to all those who have banged heads
together to move this case forward.
12 November 2005 –
Mail Protection Service
There’s been much talk
of the quality of the postal service locally. A local postman wrote about how
much extra work he said he had to do – much of it so-called “junk mail”. I
think it would help the postie to help us if we all
signed up for the FREE Mail
Protection Service. I’ve seen a big reduction in junk mail since I signed
up. There are telephone and fax equivalents, too.
29 October – Bike
Week 2006 announced
Bike Week will be from
Saturday 17 – Sunday 25 June 2006. See www.bikeweek.org.uk
and www.bike2work.info . This year’s funders are
Cycling England, Bike Hub, TfL, The Scottish Executive, The Welsh Assembly
Government and Travelwise.
29 October –
Becontree Station Closure
See http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/press-centre/press-releases/press-releases-content.asp?prID=565
. Becontree station will be closed each weekend in November and on January 7,
8, 28 & 29 for refurbishment works. There will be a special bus service
to/from Heathway.
21 October – Orange
Bag Recycling Scheme extended to some
flats
A full page ad in The Barking & Dagenham Post (p21)
explains this, showing a Euro bin of the sort that the larger blocks of flats
have – the same kind that sit under the chute. In my block we only have
wheelie-bins. I have suggested we get orange versions of them and then we can
join in.
The advert says “to
find out if your flat is in the first phase of the scheme contact 020 8215 3000
or visit www.lbbd.gov.uk”, but I couldn’t
easily find any information on the website.
16 October 2005 –
ELT Consultation – Barking & Gallions Reach
A consultation is
underway about which route will be used by East London Transit (phase 2) to get
from Barking Town Centre to/from Gallions Reach and the proposed Thames Gateway
Bridge. This can be seen on line at www.tfl.gov.uk/elt - and some people have
been sent leaflets at home. The consultation ends on 13 December.
The main two options
are London Road and the A406 (option 5) or St Pauls Road and Jenkins Lane
(options 1-4). Options 1-4, which would
each require a new Roding Bridge, are about the route to take between Jenkins
Lane and the roundabout in St Pauls Rd / Gascoigne Rd. Options 1 &2 use
Gascoigne Rd and go through The Shaftesburys. Option
1 crosses the Roding just north of the barrage across to what I will call the
Jenkins Lane extension. Option 2 (shorter) uses
Option 4 uses the full
length of St Paul’s Road and crosses the Roding at in the historic Town Quay
area (where it would need a new additional bridge). It joins the Jenkins Lane extension
on at its northern end.
TfL prefers option 1,
because it serves the greatest population, requires the cheapest (shortest)
Roding crossing of options 1-4, and is mainly segregated making journey times
more reliable. I would have liked option
4 but for the need for a new bridge which could easily spoil the historic Town
Quay area. The glossy leaflet and website make no mention of cycling.
15 October 2005 –
Newham LCC relaunch
There’s a microsite on the LCC website at http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=71
and I’ve put details of a ride and the AGM on the events
pages here.
There’s also an e-group
at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newham-cycling/
which you can join on line or by sending a blank e-mail to: newham-cycling-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
The e-group will be
mainly aimed at cyclists (and particularly LCC members) living in Newham, but
anyone interested is welcome to join.
15 October 2005 –
Gold Card Network Railcard honeymoon over
National Rail have
started to impose a limit that apparently always existed – Gold Card holders
may only buy one Network Rail Card (NRC)for £1 (for another person). Ticket
Offices have now started to endorse Gold Cards so they know you’ve bought an
NRC with it.
3 October 2005 –
I have a little more
clarity on the situation with cycle training. In Barking & Dagenham (though
other boroughs will be similar), adults
should contact the Road Safety Department. The contacts are all here - http://www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk/8-leisure-envir/roads/safety/roadsafety-main.html.
Children of school age can receive
training through their school – so in the first instance the head teacher
should be approached. Again I expect there will be similar arrangements in
other boroughs. Head teachers will, I expect, have to approach the road safety
department anyway, so in case of difficulty, or to enquire about non-school
based training, contact them.
Several councils offer
free or subsidised training to residents and in some cases people who work in
their borough. It would be worth checking with the borough you work in to see
if you can access training that way.
CTUK’s training is available to anyone
at a price and is not limited to vehicle control and road-craft, but also
covers maintenance.
You should also check
out http://www.londonschoolofcycling.co.uk/home.html.
The fact that I’ve written more about CTUK is not supposed to be detrimental to
them.
2 October 2005 – New
bus stop to match U
There is no eastbound
bus stop to match stop U (Ripple Rd / Sunningdale Ave) in Barking Town Centre.
This bus stop would serve Lidl and the council offices, amongst other places.
The stop before this point
is outside the Westbury centre and (approx)
If you agree, please contact me and I will find out who in
TfL / London Buses to contact to make the point.
30 September 2005 –
Jenkins Lane area update
B&D member
“OK, this is a little bit
complicated, but I think I have it clear now.
Unfortunately no copies of plans - Newham refused on copyright grounds,
though I did have a read through.
However, I did telephone Halcrow (the
contractor for ODPM) and they were very helpful.
Comes down to 3 'bits'.
1. The path along the river bank
(through the former paint factory site) from the A406 underpass to the * anti
vehicle height barrier thing. Halcrow/ODPM will
improve this, and add an additional access to it from Jenkins Lane by the
roundabout. This access will be friendly
to wheelchairs (ie no slope greater than 1:20).
Seating areas with views of the river and information boards will be put
in.
* A girder was put across the
path, I believe to stop vehicles gaining access.
2. The girder-barrier to under
the A13 to the cinema/bowling complex. Halcrow/ODPM were going to extend the track along this
route with cycle/pedestrian shared path, but it will now be done by Newham
council under a separate budget.
Both 1 & 2 should happen by
March '06, according to the woman at Halcrow.
This combination should mean one
can get by bike from the far side of A13 to the underpass under the A406 without
touching Jenkins Lane itself, which is cool.
However,
3. The underpass under the A406
won't be improved. Halcrow
had originally pl
Looks like it's the dotted brown
one in: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/initiatives-projects/elt/ELT-full-scheme-map.pdf
My contact at Halcrow thought that the plans she'd seen for the East
London Transit included suitable provision for cyclists and pedestrians.”
29 September 2005:
Oyster auto top-up
A new service on Oyster:
If your pre-pay balance goes below £5 it will automatically be topped up by £20
or £40. The
first 20,000 customers who sign up will get the (compulsory) initial top-up of
£20 for £10.
Further details at http://transportforlondon.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/transportforlondon.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=YH6tKOQh&p_lva=&p_faqid=504&p_created=1113900493&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MjImcF9wcm9kX2x2bDE9MTIyJnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=
29 September 2005:
Newham LCC branch to re-launch
Newham LCC is
re-launching with help from the central office. Details at http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=71,
and here’s a v-calendar file for your electronic diary (eg Outlook) - Newham LCC relaunch.vcs.
It would be good if B&D members turned up to support our neighbours. We
have some issues of routes that do, or could connect our two boroughs.
29 September 2005:
Latest Hubbub
Here’s a link to the
latest Hubbub (local LCC newsletter)
- Hubbub Oct - Nov 2005.doc
10 September 2005:
August-September Hubbub
Better late than never
– here is the latest Hubbub
(local LCC newsletter).
9 September 2005:
What is an Oyster Card: Retronyms?
A retronym
is a term that’s coined for something that previously didn’t need a separate
word or term to describe or distinguish it. Sometimes it is a little used term
that becomes more useful. The need for them is driven by technology. We now
need the term “analogue terrestrial television” for example, because now there
are other kinds. “Landline” is not a new term, but is now needed to distinguish
“phone” into “mobile” and what “phone” used to mean. Some retronyms
are jocular” such as snail-mail, which is presumably from USA usage of “mail”
for “post”. This brings me on to “electronic purse” which is what an Oyster
Card is.
Railway tickets have
been electronic (strictly, magnetic) for many years - the magnetic stripe on the back of the
cardboard ticket carries the relevant information. So really the piece of
cardboard was an electronic purse, too. You only needed it to store the ticket
information – but because it only carried info on one ticket, the details could
be printed on it too as they have been since ever. Theoretically the piece of
cardboard could have had a new ticket stored on it, but this is impracticable
as well as impractical.
The Oyster Card “purse”
itself can be used again and again. Mine’s into its third annual season ticket.
You don’t need to throw away a bit of cardboard. Also you can store up to 3 yet
to expire season tickets in it. And - of course - you can store prepay in it. This
is electronic money. At the moment it can only be spent on Underground tickets,
but it is likely to be expanded into other uses for low cost items. Let’s hope
National Rail tickets
Being an electronic
purse it can be “read” by a computer. The Oyster card sends out a radio signal
to the card reader saying what tickets it’s got in it and the barrier opens if
at least one of them is valid.
9 September 2005 -
Gold Card Network Card limit?
When I tried to buy 3
Network cards for £1 each using my Gold Card, I was told at Barking Station
that I was limited to one. I don’t think I’ve tried to buy more than one in one
transaction before, but there’s nothing on the application form to say there’s
a limit and neither has my Gold Card ever been marked to show I’ve bought a
reduced Network Card with it. The ticket office notes my Gold Card number on
the form, so the back-office can check how many I’ve bought – but they have
never told me about the limit and it would be difficult to get the cards back
as they’re issued before the form is returned to the back-office. The Network
Card is printed by the normal ticket machine, but I think that’s offline so it
can’t check either – and anyway it’s not given the Gold Card information. The
“ruling” is based on TfL’s fares leaflet, page 39, which says a Gold Card
Holder can buy a Network
Railcard for a relative or a friend. I think if there is a limit it ought to be spelt
out clearly and if there isn’t, the ambiguity should be removed.
2 September 2005:
Free London bus travel for under 16s from 1 September
Have a look at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/press-centre/press-releases/press-releases-content.asp?prID=486
for more details and a couple of ifs and buts. 14 & 15 year olds (and
possibly others if staff think they look over 13) will need the “Child Oyster photocard” – see http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tickets/2005/photocards/
costing £5, plus I assume the cost of the photos, but under 14s won’t normally
need any ticket or photocard.
If you have a photocard already proving you’re under 16, you don’t need
to get the “Child Oyster photocard” just yet, but TfL
are saying you might as well, for the other advantages. See the leaflet at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tickets/2005/downloads/KidsLeafletFINAL.pdf
New free travel is on
buses only. This information is for guidance – TfL says what the rules and regs are.
OK - £5 for 2 years
isn’t really free – but it’s a real bargain.
1 September 2005: Update on Bike
Recycling Schemes
It is quite difficult to quickly
get updated information on these schemes – so I have to assume nothing’s
changed if old information is still around. I ahd the
The website www.onurbike.org
is no longer live so I have deleted the entry from my list. It was Newham based
but I’m unsure of the connection with the “Wombles”
(see below). http://www.newham.gov.uk/content/News/rw250603bike.jsp.
Barking & Dagenham Council
does not mention its own recycling scheme in the recycling section of its
website and manager
Dagenham: Jeremy.nuttall@lbbd.gov.uk. Phone
(020) 8270 6969, 07870 278288
Walthamstow: From www.wfcyclists.org.uk – “Waltham
Forest Council run a Bicycle Recycling Scheme and maintenance workshops. For
details of these click here.”
Beckton: Newham Wombles Recycling project. I read
(http://www.towerhamletswheelers.org.uk/media/2003releases/thw12eastway040603.html)
that they they collect old bikes from Newham's
streets, but this is an old press release (June 2003). Contact
Councillor Paul.Schafer@newham.gov.uk,
07941 227404. http://www.ndfc.co.uk/article/articleview/146/1/16/
26 August 2005 – Freecycle
This internet scheme is
basically a brilliant idea – perhaps a victim of its own success in the London
area. If you sign up for it, I would suggest at most you get the digest of
e-mails – even that may prove too much.
The idea is that
instead of throwing unwanted stuff away, you offer it on freecycle
to anyone who wants it. Usually the receiver collects. Have a look - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecyclelondon/
. This link the
24 August 2005 –
Underground Departure Information at Barking
I wrote to TfL to point
out that it’s a nuisance not knowing when a train is due to depart from
platform 3 at Barking (the “bay road” at the London end of the station. TfL
replied saying that they are working on getting better information on LUL
services at Barking – this involves some negotiation with c2c who run the
station and some repair work necessary because of a fire. Basically good news,
though – and about time.
24 August 2005 –
Independent stations
There are a few of
these stations (not run by Network Rail or a TOC on the National Rail network.
Examples include
24 August 2005 – How
many Underground stations are there?
My ATOC London
Connections Map latest edition references 690 stations. A quick count up on my
“tube folder” showed 327 stations, but
that includes DLR and the North London Line / Link (N Woolwich – Richmond).
Deduct 19 stations served by the NLL (but not the Underground) and a further 29
served by the DLR (but not the Underground or NLL) and I make it 259. These
figures need checking, but there are ifs and buts, too. First, these are stations served (not
necessarily run) by LUL, and second it is rather difficult to define a station.
The name is no good, because there are two LUL stations called Shepherd’s Bush,
but they are physically unconnected (similarly Edgware Road). Some say Kings X
(Underground) could be two stations. And is Monument / Bank one or two?
14 August 2005 –
Leftley Estate 1 ways
Welcome though the
20mph limits are on the Leftley Estate are, the one way streets with no
exemption for cyclists are not. I thought I had objected to them – I need to
check my records. Fair enough, something
needs to be done, I expect, about rat running motor vehicles but once again
cyclists are made to suffer or are provoked into illegal manoeuvres because
they can’t legally cycle down the length of these roads anymore.
13 August 2005 –
Never pay a full off-peak National Rail fare?
If you have an annual
London Season Ticket (Goldcard) that gives you and
people travelling with you 1/3 off many off-peak fares. The Holder can also buy
Network Railcards for £1 for other people – so that they and people travelling
with them get similar discount. More recently added to this is groupsave http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/groupsave.aspx,
whereby 3 or 4 people travelling in a group can save up to half the full fare.
Given that a Network
Railcard can cost as little as £1 it seems really foolish not to have one – and
with all these offers it seems no-one should ever pay the full fare.
13 August 2005 – TfL
Cycle Journey Pl
As an alternative to Quil Forbes’ www.cyclemaps.net
journey pl
My feeling was
unfortunately wrong (see below).
13 July 2005 – Glenny Road Cycle in/out nears completion
The junction of Glenny Rd and the Barking Northern Relief Road has a plug
with gaps for cycles to enter or leave Glenny Rd. I’m
not sure this will be the most used cycle facility ever, but it is important
that cyclists should not be restricted in the same way as motor vehicles – so
thanks B&D council. Glenny Road also has an entry
treatment at the T
13 July 2005 –
Barking & Gospel Oak Line two-week closure
As mentioned before,
the line will be completely closed between S Tottenham and Barking every day
from Saturday 6 – Sunday 13 August inclusive. There is “bustitution” but it
will take absolutely ages. The timetable can be downloaded from Silverlink’s
website - http://www.wagn.co.uk/EngNews/Docs/PDFs/396_GOB%20Block%20TT%20for%20web.pdf.
It shows the bus taking 1 hour 11 minutes to do the closed section (compared to
22 minutes by train!). I strongly recommend you plan unavoidable journeys
through www.tfl.gov.uk/journeyplanner.
A word of
warning, though.
The journey planner doesn’t include the rail replacement buses, apparently. I
tested it out with Barking to Leytonstone High Road and it came up with a route
via Mile End and the central line taking 42 minutes compared to 37 on the rail
replacement bus.
9 July 2005 – Free Cycle
Security Marking & Registration
The next opportunity to
have bikes security marked (by Police Cadet volunteers) and registered on a
National database is at the Dagenham Town Show next weekend (16 – 17 July).
Please spread the word. [This is not postcode stamping but proper etching and
registration].
There is also an
ongoing programme of bike security marking at schools. I don’t have the
details, though: If you’re interested contact your child’s school or PC Daryl Bonas at Barking Police Station on 020 8217 5646 / 5604.
29 June 2005: Better
news on LC maps
The information kiosk
at the top of the stairs to platform 1/1a has recently had some ATOC London Connections maps available and
visible. When I asked for one I was given an up-to-date one with no problems.
29 June Roding
Riverside Path
With an hour to kill I
again explored the Roding Valley area to see what progress is being made on
developments. Starting from Highbridge Road, I could see from the footbridge
that the new road that almost goes to Jenkins Lane is still barriered
off and still has the no-entry sign towards the Jenkins Lane end. On the Newham
side, the path was in quite good condition and here - as in all the area I explored - there is a
spectacular display of wild flowers. Under the A406 and up onto the raised area
that was the paint factory. From there you can see a level site, to the east of
Barking Creek being redeveloped. Further down there’s a girder across the path
just above head height. There used to be travellers living there, but there’s
no sign of them now. It is possible to get through the very overgrown path and
emerge at the back of Frankie and Benny’s. Further (south) down the path, alongside the
rear of the cinema, the formal path that was made here is very overgrown – I
didn’t even try to go down it. This path leads down into the sewage works – but
is not as unpleasant as it sounds. I know I’ve photographed down there since
2002 because that’s when I got my digital camera.
With some cutting back
of vegetation this could be an attractive / interesting path.
24 June 2005: UKIP
candidate’s old-school pro-motorist stance
UKIP’s Kerry Smith beat the candidate
from his former party in yesterday’s Goresbrook by-election, coming third out
of 4. I the Barking & Dagenham Post in his
election address, he said “I want the area [Dagenham Heathway] made motor
friendly, with more parking”. I don’t need to spell out what I think of that
(or if I do see below – 28 May entry). Also, he says “Police should not be
chasing motorists all night, but on the streets catching criminals”. Ah yes
that one! Motorists breaking the law (speeding, drink/drug driving, or
whatever) are not really criminals. Real criminals are the ones committing other crimes, not the ones motorists are committing! Rubbish. This
is just outrageous special pleading, not to mention being a cliché.
17 June 2005 –
Stretching the meaning of “accident”
Readers of these pages
– if there are any – will know that like many transport campaigners I am
against using the word “accident” to refer to crashes and collisions.
Originally it meant something uncaused, though many dictionaries, succumbing to
popular usage, allow the now common idea as used in “road accidents”. A driver
was killed recently in B&D, who was at twice the legal alcohol limit for
driving and had also taken cocaine and cannabis. He can’t have “accidentally”
taken all those intoxicants. OK, the drink and drugs contributed to the crash,
but “accident” may be too strong a word. It was definitely a crash – and the
word crash doesn’t suggest any cause, so is preferable.
17 June 2005 – Free Cycle
Security Marking & Registration
The Police Cadets are carrying
out free security marking on cycles tomorrow (Th 23
June) at Sydney Russell Leisure Centre in Parsloes Avenue.
I'm afraid I don't know
anymore details, but I assume that like mine cycles will be marked with a
reference number and their details stored in a database along with those of the
owner, who will receive a log book by post a few days later.
16 June 2005 – Battery back up
for dynamo lights
Dynamo lights are excellent, but
when you stop they go out. Yes, some lights store a bit of charge and stay on
for a little while – so called stand lights, but you have to build up enough
charge to make this work.
10 June 2005 – Barking &
Gospel Oak Line evening timetable changes
This is similar information to
that for 27 April below, and is supplied by courtesy of www.barking-gospeloak.org.uk,
and adapted by me.
Starting
on Monday June 13th, our Mon-Sat evening service will change significantly. The half-hourly service will carry on 30
minutes later than it does at present with a new 20 25 (replacing the 2055) from Gospel Oak and 21 08 (replacing the 2138) from Barking.
The service will then go down to
hourly, with trains at the new/changed
times of 21 25 and 22 25 from Gospel Oak and at 22 08 and 23 08 from Barking
(the 2308 will go all the way to Gospel Oak instead of terminating at Upper
Holloway). NB certain Silverlink
posters state the last train from Barking is 23 15 – this is incorrect. The B&GO users group has urged Silverlink
to run the last train at that time till they can get replacement posters up
with the correct information, otherwise people risk being left stranded.
So the
last few services look like this:
Ex
Barking: 2038, 2108, 2208, 2308 (or 2315 - ?)
Ex
Gospel Oak: 1955, 2025, 2125, 2225
Put
another way, from June 12th onwards, the following Mon-Sat services will no
longer run:
20 55
and 21 55 from Gospel Oak
21 38
and 22 38 from Barking
Timetable may be downloaded from
here, but at the time of writing didn’t have these changes!
http://www.silverlink-trains.com/timetables/docs/29-Nov-04GOak-Barking-GOak.pdf#pp119-121
4 June 2005 – latest Hubbub
Download here. Hubbub is the LCC
newsletter for Redbridge branch, with occasional guest appearances from the
B&D branch and the Havering branch.
28 May 2005 – Heathway viability
The front page story of the Barking &
Dagenham Post is about plans to re-vamp the Heathway and the Mall,
tinged with the news that the WH Smith branch will close down. The car, I
argue, is the first nail in the coffin of traditional retailing. The internet
is – or will be – another. What exactly is it that we want for or from the Heathway/Mall. What’s gone wrong – if anything
– and what can we do about it? See views.
7 May 2005 - Free Garden Compost
Bin
B&D Council is giving away
2000 free garden compost bins. To get one, send your name and address to:
“B&D offer, Blackwall, FREEPOST LS6334, LEEDS,
LS14 1YY”. On your note write (assuming you are!) “I am a resident of LB
Barking & Dagenham” and sign.
If they run out and can’t send
you one, they’ll place your name on a waiting list for the next batch.
27 April 2005 – Gospel Oak Line
temporary closure in August – and some good but minor news
The line is to close between S
Tottenham and Barking from Sat 6 Aug – Sun 21 Aug inclusive, for engineering
works. There will be a bus replacement (for the brave). Here
is a link to a v-calendar file that can be opened by calendar programs such as
Outlook (not Outlook Express) so that this important information can go into
your diary. Here
is a link to an i-calendar
file – similar principle but more sophisticated / less compatible - with the
closure as a recurring daily event (v-calendar can’t do that so it has one long
event lasting 16 days).
The good news is – from June 13
an extra train each way in the evenings – 2025 ex Gospel oak and 2108 ex
Barking. Also the 2308 from Barking will go all the way to Gospel Oak instead
of U Holloway.
Users and supporters of this
line should check out www.barking-gospeloak.org.uk,
the user group’s website which has much new content added recently. They should
also consider joining the group – it’s only £3 a year.
24 April 2005 – Barking regains
a bike shop
The former Dagenham Motors
branch at 64 Longbridge Rd (corner with Cecil Avenue) has become “Motor World”.
OK, this gives away that it is not purely a bike shop, but it sells bikes and
bike accessories. I don’t know if it does repairs. I only gave it a cursory
glance, but I saw several mountain bikes, and the “accessories” extended to
things like child seats, but over all it has a “Halfords” mix of car and bike
stuff.
A quick tour of the adult bikes
part of their website reveals that they mainly deal in budget mountain bikes.
The prices ranged from £80 – £200, so we’re not talking quality.
www.motor-world.co.uk (not the same as
www.motorworld.co.uk). Barking Branch: 020 8594 4394
14 April 2005 – Cycle Theft and
Recovery
An item in The Barking & Dagenham Post yesterday features the mother of a bike
theft victim calling for the police or council to do something about bike
theft, such as a registration scheme. http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=733
covers several schemes, excluding the mobile equipment national database www.menduk.org, which covers all kinds of
mobile equipment.
Lock your bike when its
unattended and parking it in a prominent place when its out-and-about (so that
thieves can’t work on stealing it unseen). This should reduce the chances of
theft.
The various registration and
recovery schemes rely on some combination of:
1) A centralised database. This
will contain varying levels of detail, but the minimum seems to be the frame
number and colour of the machine.
2) Markings. Ranging from stamping
your post code onto the frame (a little crude and perhaps damage causing), to
microdot markings for every component.
3) An electronic tag or tag(s)
hidden in the machine. These can be sc
4) Flagging up theft. Some schemes
rely on you reporting the details after the theft and others enable you to tell
the database about your bike at any time and flag up the theft should it occur.
Some
manufacturers have registration schemes for their own machines.
BASICS
There
are some basic things that owners can do themselves:
Take a
photo of the machine. Write a detailed description of it, including markings on
components – such as sizes and manufacturers names on tyres, wheel rims, gear
components, saddles. Include descriptions of any accessories fitted by the
owner/user – bells, lights, etc, and any distinguishing marks/scratches or
signs of repair. Make it exhaustive and keep it up-to-date.
The most important information to note is
the frame number, which is usually stamped
under the bottom bracket (where the pedals go into the frame).
Keep
the photo and description in a safe place.
Brick Lane Market has a reputation for selling
stolen bikes. http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=886
explains in more detail an initiative to clamp down on this and (it is hoped)
stamp it out.
14
April 2005 – Travel Plans
The
headline letter in yesterday’s Post
is from someone who’s rather angry at having her journey delayed by parked –
illegally and inconsiderately she says – vehicles near the Elim Church in Green
Lane.
She
argues that the law should be complied with and enforced. Fair enough, but the
church should also be asked to help ease the problem by getting together its
own Travel Plan. This could look at how people travel to the church and whether
car use could be reduced – perhaps by car sharing arrangements.
11 April 2005 – International
Compost Awareness Week
http://www.biffa.co.uk/news.php?shownews=67.
The week runs from 1-7 May and B&D will be rounding it off on Saturday 7
May with a Cleaner, Greener event at
the Millennium Centre in Dagenham, featuring a composting expert from the
Women’s Environment Network. The event is free, but you must book a place with Jane.Havemann@lbbd.gov.uk / (020)
8227 3945.
7 April 2005 – Prepay glitch at
Barking
I saw someone trying to exit
through the barriers at Barking but the display gave him one of its numeric
error messages. A member of staff said that the message was that there was not
enough prepay credit on the card. The passenger asserted that there was but
also asked how he could get evidence. As far as I know he can’t get evidence at
Barking – and also he can’t buy prepay at Barking on the booking hall side –
let alone on the platform side of the barriers. This is in keeping with the
anomaly of Barking not being an Underground run station and therefore not
having Underground type ticket machines. Having Oystercard machines would be a
sensible step to help ease the problem and reduce the confusion about prepay
availability.
6 April 2005 – Green Waste
Collections
B&D council’s green waste
recycling vehicle’s itinerary – Sundays, April – October 2005:
9.30-10.30 – Thames View Junior
School, Bastable Avenue
9.30-11 – Parloes Avenue
(by Park)
11-12 – Mayesbrook Park Car
Park,
11.30–1 – St Chad’s Park
(Alexander Road)
1-2 – Greatfields
Park (Perth Road)
2-3.30 – Hedgemans Rd, by
allotments
2.30-3.30 – Barking Park Car
Park (off South Park Drive).
Take your grass cuttings,
clippings, leaves and small bushes for composting. No branches or logs more
than 1” (2.5 cm) thick.
www.lbbd.gov.uk
may have more info, but I couldn’t find it this evening.
6 April 2005 – Consultation on
Local Implementation Plan
This is the borough’s transport
plan – its bit of the London wide plan. The Barking
& Dagenham Post says it’s out for consultation but gives no contact
details. I will be taking part if I can – particularly in connection with
cycling.
6 April 2005 – New look
Magistrate’s Court unveiled
Baroness Scotland reopened the
court last week: Years of campaigning against closing the court paid off when
the courts organisation decided to keep it – and now they’ve brought it up to
modern standards. Good stuff.
2 April 2005 – Mobile Equipment
National Database
Any kind of mobile equipment
with a serial number, including bicycles, can be registered on this database,
which has a direct link to the Police Stolen Equipment National Database.
As it’s free there seems to be no point in not doing it.
27 March 2005 – Two way working
re-instated
In Glenny
and Harpour Roads. I think it is only temporary,
unfortunately.
27 March 2005 – Platform 3
problem
With the eastern part of the
District line terminating at Whitechapel (not Aldgate East where the change is
much easier) between Good Friday and Easter Monday, because of engineering
work, there were extra H&C line trains to help reduce journey delays. I was
faced with the choice of waiting for a District or making my way to platform 3
and risking the train going before I got there. Sod’s law kicked in and the
H&C went first. I then just missed a Central at Mile End and a Victoria at
Oxford Circus, leaving me arriving late. This problem must be solvable, surely?
At peak periods it doesn’t matter so much as District trains are so frequent.
25 March 2005 – Get your
employer to buy you a bike at a reduced price
There are two schemes offering interest free loans and tax exemption for employers making loans to employees to buy bikes. See www.booost.uk.com (note the three 'o's) and www.cyclescheme.co.uk. Boost also offers computer loans.
8 March 2005 – Platform
1a progress; Toilets.
See 9 December entry. Platform 1a is now open again. However the toilets have been affected by vandalism and a station worker has predicted that they won’t last long.
8 March 2005 - Peto Alley Progress
St Awdry’s Walk (Peto Alley) now sports shared-segregated path signs at each end, and at the station end, fixed to the wall above the steps, a large sign saying “St Awdry’s Walk, leading to St Awdry’s Rd”.
I have suggested that Peto Alley form part of a route from Barking Station To Thames View. From St Awdry’s Rd it would go down Wedderburn Rd and Sparsholt Rd and then pick up the tunnel under the A13 from to Charlton Crescent.
26 February 2005 – Civic Heart of Barking fails to register cycling
It’s actually more depressing than that, because I have brought up all the issues I’m writing about here. It’s not a case of cycling being overlooked – just ignored. The new pedestrian crossing in St Paul’s Rd is going to be staggered, contrary – so far as I can tell – to best practice, and reinforcing the inappropriate dual carriageway. It doesn’t line up with the path emerging from the Gascoigne estate – nor with the newly re-opened part of St Ann’s Rd in the new housing development. So it will clearly be unsuitable for cyclists and my objections and the suggestions of the CRISP have been ignored.
My suggestion that St Ann’s Road be opened up for cyclists has also been ignored – this has been done as pavement. Good for pedestrians, but another snub to cyclists.
At the Broadway Theatre, despite detailed discussions about the location of cycle parking there is still none there.
And finally, Wellington St has been blocked off at its junction with the road alongside the Town Hall by full width barrier. Previously it was blocked off by a strip of footway and it was on my list of obstacles to be overcome. Despite several copies of this list being sent to the council over the years, cases of them doping anything positive about the suggestions are rare. And here’s a case of them making it worse.
21 February 2005 – c2c questionnaire
I admit I hate questionnaires – my answers never seem to fit one of the options offered – or I simply don’t know or can’t remember the answer to them – you know – how many times a year do you buy jam, or similar. Who remembers this kind of thing or keeps a record? I received a feedback questionnaire from c2c and found that I could only answer one question straightforwardly. One problem was they asked “how soon after contacting us did you receive a full answer … ?”. I just can’t remember and I didn’t keep the letter. The next question was a satisfaction matrix – but there were 3 levels of satisfaction and 2 levels of dissatisfaction. This is either a travesty of surveying or gross incompetence. The final question was about how likely I am to travel with c2c in the future! C2c suffering some kind of delusion that it’s an airline, maybe? What real choices do I have? The questionnaire finished with a space for comments. My comment was that the Barking station still gives out out-of-date ATOC London Connections maps, and even those are hidden out of view. (And there was some effort involved on my part before I even managed to get the clerk to remember there was such a map). My original complaint was about this and I was told that c2c would pass my comments to the station.
Why are ATOC London Connections maps being rationed?
18 February 2005 – Oyster introduces fare-capping
The death knell is sounded for
cardboard tickets as Oyster at last introduces fare capping – so that you pay
no more than a travelcard would cost. See http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/fares-tickets/2005/oyster/#3
for full details. The capping rates are the same as the day travel card rates.
18 February 2005 - ATOC London Connections Map
The strange map saga continues. I asked for one of these maps by describing it at the new information window this morning. When I explained it had the South-East map on the other side, the penny dropped. The clerk then opened a drawer and produced a copy of the Sept 2004 edition (out of date). More evidence that London’s best railway map is rationed.
More recently, I have asked TfL
to link to the webpage for the LC map from
their tube maps page
(which includes the TfL London Connections Map) rather than, or in addition to
their rail useful links
page. They said they’d consider it.
17 February 2005 – New information window at Barking Station
The new information window – part of the refurbishment of the station – opened recently. I haven’t used it, but I’m interested to find out what they’re like about issuing the ATOC London Connections Map – about which I’ve been campaigning for years.
16 February 2005 – 20mph zones in Rush Green & Dagenham
[from
B&D Post] A 20mph zone is planned for the
16 February 2005 – Main road resurfacing
[from B&D Post] Wood Lane (from High Road to Porters Avenue), Whalebone Lane South, London Road and Barking Northern Relief Road are all scheduled to be re-surfaced in 2005-06. This will clearly cause disruption and planning ahead – being done by the council - by individuals is needed to reduce problems. A council spokesman said “Hopefully any inconvenience to residents and motorists will be minimal”. Missed any group out? (In fairness s/he also says “these roads will be improved for the benefit of all road users”).
16 February 2005 – Lodge Avenue not resurfaced
[from B&D Post] Lodge Avenue has been awaiting its new surface for over two years. Someone at the ELM (Eastbury, Longbridge and Mayesbrook) Forum said he’d complained about it two years ago. The chair of the forum asked for a relevant officer to come to the next forum meeting – but there was apparently no mention of what anyone was going to do to get the surface re-instated!
16 February 2005 – ‘Pavements are for Pedestrians’
[from B&D Post] Indeed. In this latest airing of the cycling on pavements argument, the debate was at least aimed at cycling yobs – not all cyclists, apparently. The police have said that dealing with pavement cycling is not high on their list of priorities and I think this is how it should be. As to dealing with yobs, whatever they’re doing – that is a separate question.
A police spokesman said “Unfortunately, since pedal cycles have existed, people have ridden them wherever they could go.” Interesing that he portrays this as a disadvantage. If the council saw more clearly how pedal cycles are good at “penetrating” the street and path network, their approach to traffic planning would be different. If the police saw it, they’d use bikes more themselves – helping them deal with more “yobs”.
8 February 2005 – Hubbub Feb-Mar on line
Right click here to download a
copy.
22 January 2005 – B&GO Line – no Sunday Service in February
And no bus replacement, either. My B&GO page gives the nearest alternative stations,
but I suggest you use TfL’s excellent online journey planner to find
the best alternative route if your journey is unavoidable.
22 January 2005 – Housing density requirements lead to one way streets?
As I understand it, the need to fit in the maximum number of units in the development at Church Road has led to the roads being so narrow that B&D says they must be one way. OK, B&D has proposed a contra-flow cycle track, but this is ironically unnecessary where there are 20mph speed limits as there will be. It also assumes that “the cycle route” through the site is all that is needed and ignores the fact that people will want to cycle down all the roads in the development in each direction. This especially true as being high density and with low car parking allocation, cycling is particularly going to be useful as personal transport – the car being less of an option because of lack of storage.
I have some particular concerns:-
a) Is it the case that the developers have devised a high density scheme with low levels of off street parking, whilst it is the traffic engineers that have added on street parking, thereby narrowing the usable road width?
b) More space could have been created by building over Church Road – there being new alternative roads. This would have cut down on rat-running. B&D argue that this will cut down the road capacity too much, but it is in keeping with the 20mph zone idea. I was even told that “home zones principles” would be used. This must be the first home zone on a brand new one-way system
c) Most worrying of all is the precedent this sets. If pressure of housing density inevitably squeezes out cyclists rather than unsustainable modes, then Barking Riverside (formerly Barking Reach) is set to be a massive one way system.
22 January 2005 Cycle Storage in Dagenham
On a happier note, an application has been made to B&D to build 11 two-bed flats in Foxlands Crescent. The development is to include a “cycle bin/store”. I’m not exactly sure what this means, but it appears that the issue of cycle storage at home is being taken seriously.
22 January 2005 – Controversy over new park entrance
Plans to build a bridge over Barking Park Lake to the Buttsbury Estate off Loxford Lane in Ilford have not been met with unqualified support. The estate is affected by social problems and residents fear that these could be extended into the park if the new entrance goes ahead. Also the bridge could be an “escape route”, some argue.
It does seem unfair on the other residents (the majority presumably) to deprive them of the extra amenity and I find the “escape route” argument strange as surely every road, path, alley or bridge, etc, is an escape route?
The escaping in question is presumably from the police, who are only very slowly beginning to realise that they can penetrate deeper into estate, parks, pedestrian areas and busy town centres much better on bicycles. This is a policing tool that has not been sufficiently explored.
9 January 2005 – Something about Newham
“Newham”
is one of the few London Borough names that seems to appear fairly commonly in
postal addresses and as part of the name of businesses. East Ham Town Hall is
commonly called Newham Town Hall and one of the borough’s leisure centres (in
Plaistow) is called “Newham Leisure Centre” even though they’re all in Newham.
“Newham Showcase Cinema” is the only one that is named after the borough that
it is in: The branch in Wood Green is not called “Haringey Showcase Cinema”. If
find this annoying and illogical. For a start “Newham” is not a town so cannot
have a Town Hall. Many London Boroughs have more than one Town Hall (including
Newham, though West Ham TH is in Stratford and not used as a Town Hall any
more), so this system can’t work. But most of all, why give the name of a
large area when a small one is available – why say something is in Newham when
you can say it is in East Ham, West Ham, Stratford, Plaistow or wherever?
Apart from the “Newham” showcase Cinema, we also have Frankie & Benny’s Restaurant and Hollywood Bowl struggling with the fact that they’re in Newham but have Barking postal addresses. One plumps for “Newham, Barking, Essex” and the other for “Barking, Newham, Essex”. This area was a bit of a no man’s land until the nineties, so it wasn’t an issue, but I would say it is Beckton (it is near Beckton Sewage Works and Beckton Gas works). It would be misleading or unhelpful to just put “Barking” in the address, but until recently “Beckton” was a perfectly adequate place name.
9 January – New Green Travel Co-ordinator in B&D
We welcome
·
Meeting(s)
with the LCC branches in each borough / a cycling forum
· Promotions during Good Going Week (14-25 March).
· Bike week events (11-19 June)
· More Company of Cyclists events
· Promotional stalls in town centres
· Billboard and bus advertising.
So keep an eye on the events pages here!
Entries pre August
2002 are now in a separate archive file.
Entries from August 2002 – 2004 are now in a separate archive file.